Kenya's Selu Plans to Invest KES 13 Billion to Expand Irrigated Farm

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 27, Kenyan agribusiness Selu Africa proposed to invest KES 13 billion over the next three years to expand maize cultivation at the Galana-Kulalu agricultural project in Kilifi County. The company currently operates approximately 20,000 acres (about 8,094 hectares) of farmland, with the actual cultivated area having increased from 500 acres in 2025 to 2,000 acres in 2026. The new round of investment will be used to expand the cultivated area and support modern irrigation, agricultural machinery, and precision agriculture management systems.

The farm currently uses sprinkler irrigation equipment, agricultural drones, renewable energy facilities, and digital data collection systems for production. Peter Njonjo, Chairman of Selu Group, the project operator, explained that the agricultural management system uses real-time data to guide irrigation, crop management, and the use of agricultural inputs. The existing trial planting area has achieved a maximum yield of 35 bags of maize per acre, and the company has set a target yield of more than 9 tonnes per hectare after expanding production.

Expansion funding will be provided in phases by Kenya's Equity Bank, covering irrigation facilities, mechanized agricultural production, and large-scale farm operations. Project partners include agricultural machinery manufacturer AGCO, Brazilian agricultural technology company Campo, Bayer, and agricultural research institution LEAF Africa, which are involved in agricultural equipment, production technology, and related research cooperation, respectively.

The Galana-Kulalu project is implemented by the National Irrigation Authority of Kenya through a public-private partnership model, with Selu undertaking commercial operations on part of the farm. The National Irrigation Authority of Kenya previously confirmed that the agricultural infrastructure for Phase I of the project includes water intake, water storage, irrigation transmission and distribution, and internal farm road construction; Selu's existing cooperation arrangement is based on the development of 20,000 acres of irrigated agriculture.